The Bingham Cup is proud to announce that they will include their first ever Women’s Cup division at their next biennial tournament being held in New York City in May 2006.

The Bingham Cup is a biennial international rugby competition named in remembrance of Mark Kendall Bingham, one of the heroic victims of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Mark was a keen rugby player and a star member of his college team at the University of California at Berkeley, leading them to a string of national championships. At the time of his death, Mark was playing for one of USA’s leading gay & bisexual rugby teams, the San Francisco Fog RFC.

The Bingham Cup was held previously in 2002 in San Francisco and in 2004 in London. Since its inception, the tournament has grown from eight teams to forty teams from ten countries projected take part in the 2006 tournament in New York City. Eight to sixteen women’s teams are anticipated to take part in the 2006 Bingham Cup.

“The inclusion of women’s rugby teams was a natural decision for us,” said C. Brian Devinney, the tournament director and chair of the 2006 Bingham Cup Organizing Committee. “Women and women’s teams have had a great influence on the growth of the sport within the gay community. There’s no better way to honor their contribution to the sport than establishing a Women’s Cup division at next year’s tournament.”

Bingham Cup 2006 will also feature coaching, referees and laws clinics; three days of rugby competion at various levels; and the signature high-quality parties which have marked prior Bingham Cup events. The San Francisco Fog secured the Bingham Cup trophy at the 2002 and 2004 Bingham Cups, and London’s Kings Cross Steelers currently hold the Bingham Plate, for B-sides and developing clubs.

For more information about the new Bingham Cup Women’s Division, you may contact Toby Butterfield at womenscup@bc06.com. Additionally, you may visit our website at www.binghamcup.com.